Nekosan Tips, Cheats and Strategies

Nekosan is a platforming game from 1Button, the creators of Mr. Jump — an impossibly difficult tappy platformer that bounced to the top of the charts in 2015. If you were among the millions that played Mr. Jump, you’ll recognize some of the gameplay mechanics, but Nekosan brings some new challenges that, amazingly, are actually more frustrating than Mr. Jump.

Gamezebo’s Nekosan tips, cheats, and strategies to make the most of every jump and have your cat reaching new heights.

Know The Moves

The first key to success in Nekosan is to understand how to control your bouncy little cat since the control mechanics aren’t immediately obvious and certainly aren’t intuitive. Tap to get your cat to move forward; this means going right at first but later is based on the direction your cat is facing. Once you start moving forward on a flat surface, you cannot stop yourself so be prepared to fall or jump; this is particularly important to remember when you have a moving obstacle that can crush you. When you want to jump, simply tap once or tap and hold if you need to get a little more height. If you want to change directions, you have to bounce against a wall and you’ll start going the opposite way. Remember, you’ll automatically keep moving along any flat surface so if you change directions, you’ll need to be prepared for whatever is ahead in that direction.

One Thumb Only

It might be tempting to try two thumbs for better responsiveness or speed, but we recommend against it. The flow of the game and cadence of obstacles requires the focus of just one input. Nekosan is designed to be truly one-handed gameplay so anything more will only end in your cat’s untimely demise. However, if you’re having a hard time controlling your cat, definitely try switching thumbs. The orientation of some boards actually works better and more intuitively if you’re using the hand that corresponds to the direction you want to go.

Keep It Movin’

Once you start moving within a level, there is no point where you’ll stop unless you hit a wall and don’t jump (or fall), so you’ll need to keep tapping. If you are facing a large expanse without a platform, aim for the floating white squares which will act as a second jump point. You do not have to land on a square directly to use it, you only need to touch anywhere on the square for it to help you. However, there’s no rest here—you must immediately tap to jump the moment you touch the square because it disappears. We actually recommend anticipating the moment you’ll touch the square just as you’re about to do it so you can plan your tap-jump, otherwise you’ll likely fall through. White squares will return after they disappear so if you miss your chance you can try again.

Be Ready to Die

This is a 1Button game so you need to keep your expectations realistic. Some stages (I’m looking at you 2.6 and 3.4) are going to take a lot of practice just to make a little progress with each subsequent life lost. You’ll get 3 continues with 5 lives each by watching a video ad, but after that, you’ll need to start the whole level over from the beginning. This is particularly painful if the troublesome stage is at the end of a level so plan accordingly. Sometimes, it’s actually better to go back to the beginning of an entire level and play through all the stages with the most amount of lives and continues possible, before you to face your problem stage.

Prioritize Your Goals

Are you a high score player or do you like unlocking new characters? If you’re looking to rank on those tempting leaderboards, you need to keep your eyes on the prize and focus only on gathering stars as quickly as possible. If you want to unlock the kawaii little characters to play as a bear or tiger then you’ll need to collect golden fish and how fast you do that won’t matter. If you missed a fish on an earlier level, go back to collect it and consider the level replay some good practice—chances are, you’ll need it.